DAMMAM, 4 February — Following an appeal from Air-India, Saudi Arabian Airlines has waived cargo handling charges for relief consignments shipped by Air-India to Ahmedabad for the victims of a powerful earthquake that hit the west Indian state of Gujarat on Jan. 26.
Air-India's Eastern Province manager Sunil Deshmukh thanked Saudia for its humanitarian gesture. Addressing a gathering of Indian workers at International Indian School in Dammam on Thursday, Deshmukh said Air-India would carry relief goods to Ahmedabad on a priority basis and the operation would run until Feb. 28. Air-India has already announced that it will carry relief goods for earthquake victims free of cost.
First Secretary at the Indian Embassy in Riyadh V.K. Sharma gave guidelines on fund collection and said donors should honor the dignity of the victims. "Only wearable clothes should be sent," he said referring to drives for collecting old clothes.
Kanoo Cargo Service has agreed to handle cargo free of charge. It will also transport all relief material to the King Fahd International Airport free of cost.
Indian School managing committee chairman Dr. S.V.R. Rao said the school had opened a special counter to receive donations. All donors will be issued a receipt and their names will be put on the school notice board for transparency. He said the accounts would be available for scrutiny to any member of the community.
Several cultural and social organizations offered their services for collecting donations. Pradeep Poothatta of Malayali Pravasi Cultural Association initiated a move to set up a committee comprising representatives of all cultural and social groups.
Abdullah Manjeri, president of Indian Cultural and Welfare Society, said his group was forming a committee which would launch a two-pronged action plan -- one to send immediate relief to the affected areas and another for a long-term rehabilitation project at a specific area in the earth-quake hit region.
Responding to reports in Arab News on the relief effort, several companies as well as individuals in the Eastern Province called the newspaper office in Dammam and offered donations.
Kamal A.Q. Ahmad, the Sudanese general manager of Z.M.D Radiators Factory, expressed his solidarity with the Indian expatriates in their drive and offered all possible help. Similar calls came from Jubail, Al-Hasa and Dammam.
